Hurricane-force winds forecast in Southcentral Alaska

Parts of Southcentral Alaska could see hurricane-force wind gusts of up to 100 mph and heavy rain starting Tuesday night from a Bering Sea storm system, the National Weather Service reported Monday.

The Weather Service's Anchorage website showed areas affected by a series of high wind warnings, in effect from Tuesday evening into Wednesday, ranging from Seward and the eastern Kenai Peninsula to Prince William Sound. The area around Cordova remained under a wind watch. Most of those areas can expect winds of 40 to 55 mph, with gusts of 75 to 90 mph.

The warning also includes the lower Anchorage Hillside and Eagle River, with winds of 30 to 45 mph and gusts to 65 mph. Along Turnagain Arm and higher elevations, wind speeds of 50 to 65 mph are forecast, along with gusts from 85 to 100 mph.

"Confidence remains high for this storm to produce hurricane force winds along Turnagain Arm, much of the Anchorage area and Portage Valley," meteorologists wrote in an afternoon forecast discussion, though they noted that when and just how hard the winds would hit Anchorage was less certain.

Earlier in the day, forecasters said this week's storm appears to be stronger than the one that moved through Southcentral Alaska earlier this month, which took down trees and knocked out power for thousands of customers from Willow to Homer.

The storm front arrived on the Southwest Alaska coast Monday, bringing high winds and rain that were expected to taper off somewhat overnight.

In Southcentral Alaska, NWS meteorologist Emily Niebuhr said concerns included trees being toppled by the high winds as well as Kenai Peninsula flooding from accompanying rains.

"There are still leaves on the trees, so some of them might fall," Niebuhr said. "We are also expecting heavy precipitation along with this."

Flood watches for an area within the high-wind zone spanning from Seward north to Whittier, in effect from Tuesday night into Thursday, project 5 to 7 inches of rainfall in 12 to 18 hours.

A massive September 2012 windstorm knocked out power for more than 50,000 people in Southcentral and included a report of a 131-mph wind gust in the Glen Alps area.

Jason Ahsenmacher, another Anchorage-based NWS meteorologist, said Monday afternoon that the storm system isn't significantly linked to Typhoon Meranti, which swept across parts of Asia over the weekend leaving nearly 30 people dead.

"In this case the system itself was already quite strong, and in this case it pulled in a bit of extra moisture from Meranti," Ahsenmacher said. "It's really not a huge player in the development of this storm."